ORNITHOPTERS

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ORNITHOPTERS

• An Ornithopter, or ornitotero - like Leonardo da
  Vinci termed them - is an aircraft heavier than
  air, that flies like a bird by flapping it's
  wings.
• The special feature lies in the wings that do not
  only generate lift but also thrust.

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Birds Wing
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Wings Flapping Mechanisms

• The purpose of the flapping mechanism is to
  convert the rotary motion of the motor into the
  reciprocating motion of flapping wings.
• The mechanism will be lightweight and fairly
  simple, and will provide a fairly symmetrical
  wing motion so that the ornithopter flies
  straight.

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Mechanism of Flapping

• The motor drives a rotating crank.
• The crank has a connecting rod attached to it,
  and the other end of the connecting rod is
  attached to the wing.
• As the crank goes around, the connecting rod
  pushes the wing up and down, to account for
  symmetry we shall use the dual crank system

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Electric motors over IC engines

• RC ornithopters powered by an electric motor,
  have more power, and are much quieter and more
  convenient than internal-combustion-powered
  ornithopters.
• Future ornithopters will be smaller and smaller
  and will need to be powered by batteries.

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Batteries

• Lithium-polymer batteries will be used because of
  their comparatively high power to weight ratio.
• Li-Poly batteries today supply something like
  0.14 watt-hours per gram.

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Ornithopters so far
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Ornithopters so far
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Ornithopters so far
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Ornithopters so far
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Servos

• High torque Micro Servos with strong gears
• shall be used for the tail.
• Servos will also be used to change shape and size
  of the wings during flight.
• This is the difference we plan to incorporate in
  the ornithopter.

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Size alteration of wings during flight.

• Outer part of wings will have a mechanism similar
  to that employed in a hand fan.

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Shape alteration of wings during flight

• Video

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Control Mechanism

• The stability of the ornithopter will be achieved
  
• with the help of the tail.

• For steering, swinging of the tail sideways will
  produce rolling movement.
• Similarly, up-down movement will alter the nose
  direction.

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RC

• RC shall be used to
• control the flight.

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Approximate dimensions

• Wingspan of about 1-1.2m
• Length of about 0.6m
• Fuselage width of about 10cm

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Cost estimate

• Li-Poly batteries 250
• Motor 175
• Servos 100
• RC system 325
• Flapping mechanism and gears Rs. 5000
• Cost of material (fuselage, wings)
• 
  Rs. 15,000

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Timeline

• By 15th of May Complete conceptual study and
  gathering of data, sketches, placement of orders.
• By 15th of June Non-powered prototype with
  gliding capabilities.
• By 15th of July flying wonder!